Follow Cyprus Investment Immigration and Cyprus Economy news: Cyprus and Lebanon recently agreed to initiate negotiations on an integration agreement to clarify and define the interests of both parties should oil and gas resources be discovered at the boundary of their respective exclusive economic zones in the future.
Cyprus Minister of Energy, Commerce, Industry and Tourism, Yiorgos Lakkotrypis, met with Lebanese Minister of Energy and Water, Gebran Bassil, in the capital, Nicosia, on the 8th. After the meeting, he stated that both sides agreed to open negotiations on an integration agreement and are committed to concluding them as soon as possible. Lakkotrypis stated that Cyprus and Lebanon are entering a new era of positive cooperation in oil and gas, and that Lebanon may become an export market for Cypriot natural gas in the future. Following the talks, both sides described the atmosphere as positive, reflecting the good relations between the two countries.
For a long time, Lebanon has not been proactive regarding energy cooperation. The initiation of these integration agreement negotiations marks a significant shift in the energy cooperation relationship between Cyprus and Lebanon. Currently, Cyprus has signed exclusive economic zone agreements with Egypt, Israel, and Lebanon to clear obstacles for the peaceful development of oil and gas resources within the Cypriot exclusive economic zone; however, the Lebanese parliament has yet to formally ratify the agreement, possibly due to pressure from Turkey. Negotiations on the exclusive economic zone agreement between Cyprus and Israel began earlier but have not yet reached a conclusive result.